If Walls Could Talk
by ljubav1986
Summary: Helen and Nikola sort through all the memories in the Old City Sanctuary. Pre-established Teslen, set just before Sanctuary for None.
1. The Roof

**A/N: Warning. If you haven't seen Sanctuary for None, turn back now. I've been toying with this idea for awhile and I'm not at all sure about it, so please let me know what you think. Reviews are so much love! This is going to be more or less pure Teslen goo, mixed with a little bit of sad, followed by Teslen comfort. Just so you know where we're going. **

Nikola left his favorite spot in the Sanctuary—the wine cellar—in search of Helen. Heinrich had just shown him the suit that Magnus had tasked him with designing. The boy had made tremendous progress on a difficult, almost impossible task before he had finally asked Nikola for help. With the modifications that Nikola had suggested, the shield may actually prove adequate to protect Helen from…what? It had taken two bottles of his favorite wine before he had figured out the answer to that question, and it made him feel sick.

All of it made sense. The memories that he suddenly had of Helen coming to see him in secret in America all those years ago. Helen breaking off ties with the world governments. The projects she had recently given him involving Praxian technology and self-sustaining energy sources. And the suit Henry was building. Every member of The Five had "died" publicly years before their actual death. Nikola himself had died in 1943 and almost 60 years later was very much alive. It seemed the time for Helen's death had come. Of course she would feel the need to go out with a bang. And she called him the dramatic one.

He finally found her on the north tower, overlooking Old City. It was her favorite place to go when she wanted to brood. He walked up behind her quietly, though he knew that she knew he was there. "Shouldn't you be packing?" he asked her, gently. She didn't even turn to look at him. They had known each other for so long they could practically read each other's thoughts, and Helen was not incredibly surprised he had figured out her plan.

"When did you finally figure it out?" She asked him. For the first time, even though she looked as young as ever, Helen Magnus sounded weary in a way that almost betrayed her 200-odd years. Nikola moved to stand beside her and took her hand.

"After Henry showed me the shield he was building for you." Helen opened her mouth to protest that it was supposed to be a secret project, but Nikola cut her off. "And before you get angry at Wolf Boy, he showed it to me because he needed help. You gave him a tall order, Helen, placing your life in his hands."

"Will it work?" Everything depended on it.

"It will now. That thing will protect you from anything short of a nuclear blast."

"Good." They stood in silence for a few minutes before Nikola repeated his first question.

"Why aren't you packing?"

Helen scrunched her face. "I really don't know where to begin. There are so many years of memories that I don't know how to choose what to take and what to leave behind."

"And then there are the memories that are held by the building itself," Nikola pointed out. "So many life-defining moments that all took place in this building."

"Yes, like Ashley. She was born and died within these walls." After a moment she looked at Nikola and smiled. "Not all the memories this building holds are so grim, however." He smirked.

"Ah, yes. We have a few memories of our own in these walls." He raised his eyebrows suggestively. "Some of the memories are even _against_ these walls." Helen rolled her eyes.

"Some things never change."

"Would you have them any other way?" Helen smiled and shook her head. "I'll tell you what," he began, "let me help you."

"What?"

"Let me help you pack. You said you don't know where to begin sorting out memories. I've been around for so many of them, maybe I can help. If nothing else, we can take the time to relive our glory days before the world goes to hell."

Not much surprised Helen, but this did. Instead of answering him, she turned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her. As he closed the distance between them, she hoped that her lips conveyed everything that she didn't know how to express. What started out as slow and sweet quickly grew in intensity until their fingers were destroying each other's hair and their tongues were fighting for control. Helen finally broke away from him, slightly annoyed that she always needed to come up for air before he did. He smiled and pressed his forehead against hers, still holding her close. "I'll take that as a yes?"

"I never knew you had a sentimental streak, Nikola," Helen observed, pulling away from him to look back over the edge of the tower.

"Yes, well, the last few years this place has been the closest thing I've had to a home."

"I hadn't thought of it like that, but you are right." She hesitated before she added, "Do you think I am doing the right thing? I'm making the command decision to destroy the home of so many people without even giving them a choice in the matter."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I've never known you to second guess yourself, Helen. You are taking away a building, yes. But you are doing it in order to give all of us the chance at a future out from under the scrutiny and control of the government. You more than anyone should know that this building doesn't define the Sanctuary. And this place isn't home to me because of the building." She looked at him, puzzled, and he pulled her closer before quipping, "Home is where the heart is, you know."

She playfully slapped his arm. "Just promise me you won't be this ridiculous the entire time we're packing," she scolded, but with absolutely no conviction.


	2. Library I

**A/N: Thank y'all so much for the positive responses to this story! I'm excited about it. I know that in canon-land they probably wouldn't have had this much time to reminisce because they were in end-of-the-world mode, but if we can all suspend our disbelief I can fit a lot more Teslen goodness into this. Oh, and this chapter (and probably a lot of those forthcoming) lives up to the story's rating so just, you know, you've been warned. Reviews are love!**

"Helen, forgive me for stating the obvious, but you give the Library of Congress a run for its money." They were in the library, trying to decide which volumes could eventually necessary to Helen's research. Even winnowing it down to books that were gifts from her father or that directly referenced abnormals left them with hundreds of volumes. That was before they started making decisions about first editions, autographed books, and ones that Helen simply preferred not to blow up.

"Nikola, if my library cannot beat the Library of Congress in terms of value, then I have been doing something wrong all these years." She wrapped her first edition, signed copy of _Origin of the Species_ and placed it in the box she was filling. Helen was incredibly glad for Nikola's help; he knew these shelves almost as well as she did. After all, most of these volumes had been around since the days of The Five back in London. It was going much quicker since he knew implicitly what to leave and what to pack.

"Oh, Helen, why in the name of all things sacred do you have a copy of this rubbish?" Helen looked to see what book could possibly provoke such a reaction. She giggled when he held up a first edition of Bram Stoker's _Dracula._ "Because it is signed from Bram to my father," she explained.

"I don't care. It is not coming with us. It is yet another sensationalized, romanticized misrepresentation of my people. Do you have a copy of _Twilight_, as well?" He sneered, and Helen shook her head, laughing.

"Nikola, why does it bother you so much?" He walked over to the shelf she was currently browsing and leaned in dangerously close to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and allowed his nails to grow on that hand, softly running them down one side of her neck while ran his lips up the other side, finally breathing in her ear, "Because I am dangerous and sensational in a way that far exceeds anything Stoker could dream up. It's simply insulting." Helen shivered deliciously when he ran his tongue across the back of her earlobe.

"Don't start something you aren't going to finish," she warned him.

He chuckled. "Helen, you should know by now that I am _always _willing to finish what I start."

"We're in the library, Nikola!" She protested, indignantly.

"Yes, and if my memory serves me right, that hasn't stopped us in the past." Although she had hoped he didn't hear her breathing hitch at the memory, his breathy laugh in her ear told her differently.

* * *

_They had just gotten back from Columbia a few hours ago. Helen had been to speak to Big Guy and decided it was time to reclaim the larva from Nikola. She had given him more than enough time to bask in his victory, and it was now time to put an end to his nonsense. She headed towards the labs where she assumed she would find him, but she was pulled from her course as she walked by the library and heard the beat of some kind of angsty rock music playing. She quietly opened the door and the words hit her._

_Black fingernails, red wine  
I wanna make you, all mine  
A lot of people, underground  
You wanna get there  
You gotta go straight down, straight down _

_It had to be Nikola, she thought. It could have been written for him. _

_She was right. Instead of hiding in a lab working on his latest mad experiment, he was sitting in the library with a glass of wine and one of her more thorough histories on _sanguine vampiris. _He looked up when she walked in, nodded his head in acknowledgement, and went back to his book. _

_Helen grabbed a second glass and perched herself on the arm at the opposite end of the couch. She looked at him, expectantly, waiting. After a minute, he sighed and closed the book. "Are you going to yell at me again? Because while I undoubtedly deserve it, I could remind you that I did save your life today."_

"_Yes. After recklessly endangering it," she reminded him._

"_So, basically, another day in the life," he observed, quite correctly._

"_This is becoming a rather disturbing routine." She let the silence linger a moment before getting to the point. "What did you do with it?" He looked at her, confused._

"_With what?" She rolled her eyes._

"_The larva, Nikola. I've known you long enough to know that you found a way to keep one." He assumed that classic look of his that was half amused and half wounded._

"_Helen, I'm hurt that you think I would do such a thing."_

"_Can it, Nikola. I'm too tired to go in circles with you tonight."_

"_Helen," he began, getting up to go stand next to her. "I don't have the rest of eternity anymore to accomplish my crazy list of schemes."_

"_Which is why you kept a larva. To extend your timeline."_

"_No. That's why I didn't keep one. I realized how much they bothered you, how much the idea of using them to recreate the source blood would hurt you. I think it would be the last straw with our friendship. And even if I could recreate my vampirism, conquering the world wouldn't be any fun without you around to try and stop me."_

_Dammit, Helen thought. Either I'm going soft and starting to buy his bull, or he is actually starting to act like a human being. "But if you're human, you won't be ruling the world, either. Where does that leave your list of plans?"_

"_Well, there's still one grand scheme that I may be able to pull off in my lifetime, if I play my cards right." She looked up at him questioningly, and he leaned in so close to her that his breath hit her cheek and she shivered a little involuntarily. "Prove to you that I meant what I said in Rome." He stood back up. "And I think that goal will be much easier if you are speaking to me." He grinned and returned to his place on the couch, opening the book to where he left off._

_Helen was in a little bit of shock. Damn him and his ability to knock her off balance. How does he just throw all that in her court and walk away? And why is it that, even though she should be worried about getting that stupid larva back, all she could think about was how close his lips had been to hers? He had almost died today. She had always assumed they had forever to continue this game, but he was right: forever was just shortened by a lot. Helen warred between leaving him to the book she was quite certain he wasn't really reading and kissing him senseless. Before she could decide on a plan of attack, he spoke._

"_Penny for your thoughts, Helen?" He asked, and she could hear the smirk in his voice. She wondered how much of the heat she was fighting was evident on her face. Apparently, quite a bit, because Nikola stood back up, moving directly in front of her and dangerously close. Before she could stop herself, Helen placed her hands on his shoulders, gently pulling him closer. As he leaned forward, he rested his hands on her hips. He looked into her eyes and couldn't believe that he saw the same lust that he was sure was reflected in his own. Helen opened her mouth to say something, but he raised a hand, pressing a single finger to her lips to silence her. They didn't need words, anyway. _

_She grinned against his finger and, to his surprise and utter delight, opened her mouth and pulled his finger in, gently sucking on it as she stood up and pulled their bodies flush together. Nikola's breath caught and he moaned softly as he wrapped his free arm around her waist. She let his hand go and pulled him into a kiss that had held a remarkable amount of electricity considering that those powers of his were gone. Nikola deepened the kiss and they both lost track of time, tongues battling for control and hands taking on a mind of their own. His hand was somewhere deep up the hem of her dress when they finally had to pull apart for breath. _

"_Bedroom" was all he could manage to gasp out between kissing every inch of her bare skin he could reach with the unacceptable amount of clothing she was still wearing._

_Helen shook her head. "Screw it," she made out between moans. "I'll fix the security tapes tomorrow." He pulled back momentarily, amazed. He gave her a questioning look, offering her the chance to cool down and change her mind. She answered him by pulling him in for another searing kiss. "Unless it bothers you," she challenged. He turned to concentrate on the door and Helen heard the _click _of a lock turning._

"_Not at all," he breathed, before launching an attack on her neck. Helen took the opportunity to start working on the buttons on his shirt. She made quick work of them and began to undo his belt. He pulled her wrists away before she could reach her goal, however. "No. You are wearing entirely too much," he protested, shrugging out of his shirt. He reached for the hem of her dress and slowly snaked his way up the inside of her thighs as he pulled the dress up. When he got close enough that he could feel how aroused she already was, he held his ground and pulled her in for another long, languid kiss. Helen pulled away after a moment, breathless and frustrated beyond belief. "You can tease later," she moaned, encouraging him to get on with it already. He smirked and pulled her dress over her head, taking a moment to enjoy the sight of Helen, face flushed, lips swollen, eyes filled with lust, in a delightful red lingerie set. _

"_Are you sure I didn't die in that explosion?" He whispered as he reached around to unclasp her bra. He took one of her newly freed breasts into his mouth and rolled his tongue on her nipple. She moaned and involuntarily thrust against him._

"_Only if I died, too. And if this is death, it is welco-oooh!" she gasped as he roughly grabbed her other breast. Impatient, she hastily undid his belt and, frustrated with the button on his pants, just pulled the damn thing off with a _pop. _She reached in and pulled him out, working his length with her hand. He moaned, giving up on her breasts and returning to her mouth. This kiss was fierce, bruising with mutual need. Nikola kicked his pants off and made short work of the scrap of lace that passed as Helen's underwear before guiding her down onto the couch. He reached a hand between her legs and pressed his thumb to her clit, reveling in how damp she already was. _

_Helen was already dangerously close and when he started working his thumb in circles she fell apart, clamping her legs around his hips and moaning out her orgasm into his mouth. When she had started to come down from her high, he shifted so that he was pressed up against her, then slowly sank inside her. He took a moment to revel in the fact that he was finally claiming her as his, but the moment was cut short when Helen began to thrust against him. He quickly matched her rhythm, kissing her everywhere he could reach as he moved inside her. When he felt himself getting close, he reached his hand between them and found _that _spot again. A few moments later, Helen, trying futilely to hold back her moans, dug her nails into his back as she came again, hard. He tried to keep pace to draw it out but quickly felt himself fall apart, moaning out his own release as they collapsed onto the couch…_

* * *

"You forgot to fix the security cameras," Nikola reminded Helen, breaking her from her memory of their first time together. She sighed.

"Poor Henry. At least he figured out what was coming and shut the tape off before he was completely traumatized." Helen leaned in and kissed him. "These walls are going to take a lot of secrets with them when they go," she mused.

"Oh, no," Nikola corrected her. "The record of that night isn't going down with the building." Helen looked at him, suspiciously. He grinned. "I made a copy of the security tape." He paused, waiting for her reaction. He wasn't disappointed. "OWW, you mean thing!" He said, rubbing his arm.

"Dobby, go pack my house," Helen ordered, turning away from him with a grin.


	3. Library II

**A/N: I really have no excuse for this chapter. I apologize in advance ;) Y'all are awesome, and your reviews are pure love.**

Nikola continued pulling books and tossing them into the quickly growing pile of boxes. He thought for a moment about following Helen to make sure she wasn't really angry with him, but then he realized that he knew her better than that. She'd be back.

Helen had gone to her office to work on paperwork for a few minutes. She couldn't truly be mad at Nikola; a hundred years of innuendo gave her plenty of warning regarding what she was getting herself into by getting involved with him. At the same time, she couldn't very well openly encourage his moral deviancy, so she decided the best option was to hide in her office and give him time to stew before she let him off the hook.

And then she thought of something…

* * *

"Nikola…" Helen said warningly from the library entrance, gun aimed in his direction as he closed up a box. He looked up at her and grinned, which infuriated her even more.

"How. Many." She demanded.

"Why Helen, I have no idea what you're talking about," Nikola cooed, stepping towards her making calming motions. She aimed the gun straight at his chest.

"How. Many. Tapes." She swore she was going to shoot that grin off his face.

"Just the one," he promised.

"You're lying," she accused.

"Am not."

"No, we are not starting that again," she said, thinking back to their last argument in which they fought like preschoolers. American preschoolers.

"So you believe me?" He asked, hopefully.

"Not remotely. But you are going to give them to me. All of them."

"Helen, if you wanted to see them all you had to do was ask." He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"So help me God, Nikola…" He swallowed. She was really more angry than he had expected. The last time she had that look in her eyes she had actually shot him.

"Helen, what are you so worried about? Even if I did have tapes of every time we were…less than discrete…you know I would never let anyone else see them. I am entirely too invested in keeping you to myself." He had dirty in his eyes, and Helen was struggling to remember that she was supposed to be mad at him.

"That isn't the point," she sputtered. "The point is that it was a…a gross invasion of my privacy."

Nikola was trying very hard not to laugh. "Helen, you're really reaching. You could just let me off the hook, you know. I really do just have the one tape," he promised.

Helen suspected that he was telling the truth, and to be honest she shouldn't be wasting precious time on this nonsense. She wasn't sure why she was so upset. Then it hit her.

"You're sure you didn't keep one from, say, after we got back from Africa?"

"You mean after my resurrection?" He quipped. "Unfortunately not, because that was a good night…" Then he thought about it. "Or was it?" He asked gently, suddenly worried that Helen had been less than honest with him all this time. "Did I-?"

"No, no, it wasn't that," Helen cut him off. "It _definitely _wasn't that. It was…before. I was a mess."

And then Nikola figured it out.

* * *

_It had been an excruciatingly long day. Honestly, by the time they got back to civilization, chartered a flight, and got back to the Sanctuary, it had been more like an excruciatingly long two or three days. Helen felt like she had been on an emotional roller coaster ever since they walked into that tomb. It started with the joy of being able to just get away with Nikola for a few days on an adventure—like old times—but that was soon followed by the gut-wrenching fear that she was going to lose him so quickly after they had started to figure things out. Followed by the relief that he was still alive mixed with the uncertainty of how his being a vampire again would change things. And then Afina had woken up…Helen just wasn't going to dwell at the moment. The fear, the anger, yes, the jealousy—it was all too much. She was tired and dammit, she wanted a long bath and to sleep for about a week. _

_She settled on a shower in the interest of being able to sleep sooner. She crawled into bed—alone, of course, because Nikola was undoubtedly off in a lab someplace taking advantage of his newly rediscovered energy—but, to her dismay, couldn't fall asleep. After almost an hour of staring at the ceiling, she gave up. Slipping on a robe, she padded down to the library to get a book, hoping that would put her to sleep. To her surprise, Nikola was in the library, as well, oddly enough reading the same book as the last time they had met like this. _

"_Helen," he looked up, surprised. "I figured you would be asleep. You must be exhausted."_

"_I couldn't sleep," she admitted, sitting down next to him. "I figured you would be in a lab blowing something up."_

_He smiled thinly. "I think we've blown enough things up for one week."_

"_Fair enough," Helen admitted. They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before he finally brought it up._

"_What's bothering you, Helen?" He tried to put his arm around her but she shrugged it off. _

"_Nothing, I'm fine," she insisted._

"_Now, I don't know much about women, but I do know that when a woman who looks like she is about to cry tells you she's fine, that you had better have flowers or duck for cover." She smacked him. "See what I mean?" _

"_Why must you always do that, Nikola?"_

"_Do what?"_

"_Make light of everything. Even when you were-were dying in that tomb, you were making jokes." Her voice cracked at the word _dying_ and Nikola started to realize what was wrong._

"_I didn't die, Helen."_

"_But you damn well could have!" She yelled, angrily brushing tears from her face. "And when you survived-"_

"_Because you beat at a vampiric stasis chamber with a rock"_

"_And when you survived, you went after that-that-"_

"_Stuck-up, inbred bitch?" Nikola supplied._

"_Yes. You went after her like a fish to water." She stopped, realizing how ridiculous she sounded, and wiped away more unbidden tears._

_Nikola smiled softly. "Well, it looks like the great Helen Magnus is human after all."_

"_So that's it then?" She asked, resigned._

"_Okay, now I'm just confused," he admitted._

"_You're going to leave again. You don't have a reason to stick around; you have all the time in the world to continue your plans of global domination."_

_Nikola tilted her chin with one of his hands, forcing her to look him in the eyes. "Do you want me to leave?" He asked, uncertainly. She hadn't signed up for a relationship with a vampire and all that entailed but with a mortal, aging human._

"_What I want is irrelevant if you are going to do it anyway."_

"_Helen, I've spent two lifetimes wanting you. Now that I have you, I'm not stupid enough to give it up over some crazy scheme. Besides, if _that _is what global domination does to a person, then nothankyou." She thought briefly about answering him, but settled for launching herself at his lips instead._

_The kiss was rough—bruising and needy—and all thoughts of being tired were very soon gone as their hands started checking each other's bodies—just to make sure there were no lasting injuries from the blast. When they pulled apart briefly for air, Nikola's eyes were solid black, and Helen could tell he was fighting for his last shred of control. She shivered, partly out of a totally acceptable amount of human fear, but the larger part was definitely from desire. _

_Nikola saw her reaction, could hear her heart flutter, and knew that it wasn't from fear. That, the fact that she wanted even the part of him that he knew she considered to be a monster, was more arousing than anything she could have done to his body. Still, he needed to make sure._

"_Do you trust me?" He asked, his voice deep and gravelly, on the very edge of transformation. Helen shivered again, and answered by drawing him in for another kiss. His lips left hers and trailed across to her earlobe and down the edge of her neck, pausing at her pulse. He kissed and licked and sucked at her neck until he knew if he didn't move on he would lose what little bit of control he had left. Especially the way Helen was clinging to him and making those delicious little moans. _

_He reached down and untied her robe and she shrugged it aside as he pulled it off her shoulders. She was wearing that red silk piece that he loved so much, and with ease he pushed the strap aside, pulling the top down and freeing a breast for him to turn his attention to. When he gently bit down on it, Helen's quiet moans became loud and wanton. She shifted so that instead of being beside him on the couch, she was on top of him, straddling his legs and rubbing against his erection._

_She was going to be the death of him. He returned to her lips, moaning into the kiss. She undid his belt and pants, freeing him then moving to the buttons on his shirt. He shrugged out of it and tossed it aside, then pulled Helen's nightgown over her head, tossing it away as well. All that was left on her was her underwear. He ached to let his transformation take over and rip them to shreds, but he held back. Helen felt him still and looked at him, questioning. He was clearly about to go over the edge, and there was nothing Helen had ever wanted more. She leaned in and kissed his ear, following the same path he had on her earlier, landing at his pulse point where she sucked and then, without warning, bit down. It was just enough for Nikola to lose little bit more of his remaining control. Before she knew what had happened, Nikola had flipped them and was on top of her, and her underwear lay shredded on the other side of the room. She wrapped her legs around his waist and felt him press up against her. She needed to feel him inside her, to know for sure that he was alive, was still here. When he plunged into her, she let out something between a moan and a yell. There was no tender caressing, just the two of them working out a frantic need. _

_Helen couldn't get close enough to him. He was completely buried inside of her, their bodies pressed together, and it wasn't enough. Nikola's pace grew more frantic and Helen felt herself coming undone. In a last ditch effort to get him to do what they had both wanted this whole time, she reached up and bit him again, this time clearly drawing blood. That did it—he completely transformed, looking into her eyes only long enough to ensure that he didn't see fear but desire. As he sunk into her neck, both of them went over the edge…_

* * *

"Let me get this straight: you're upset not because you think I have you on tape having kinky vampire sex, but because you think I have you on tape _crying_ before the kinky vampire sex?"

Helen nodded, sheepishly. "It does sound rather silly when you put it like that."

"Yes. Now, will you put the gun down already?"

She had honestly forgotten she had been holding it. She set it down on the table. "So, you _don't _have any more tapes?"

"No. I promise," he reached for her and pulled her into a hug. She looked up at him, this time with dirty in _her _eyes. She pulled him in for a kiss, and then, well, as they say, history does repeat itself…..


	4. Library III

**A/N: Y'all are awesome. Each and every one of your reviews absolutely makes my day! **

**This is an incredibly short update, but I wanted to wrap up the library before moving onto the next room. Also, I'm taking some liberties with temporal theory, and probably getting it wrong. Oh, well. One more thing-I am going to steal this idea from Chartreuseian: If anyone guesses which room I'm writing about next, you may name a character in my next writing project. It isn't for FF, but still.**

Helen and Nikola were wrapped around each other on the library sofa, consumed by a most satisfactory brain fog. A few strands of Helen's dark, curly hair had fallen loose and draped across her neck. Nikola gently pushed them out of the way and kissed the spot where his mark was just starting to heal. She sighed, contentedly. "You know," she mused, "if my reaction to being bit is typical, it's no wonder vampires were able to rule over the human race…" Nikola smirked.

"And by 'reaction' you mean instantaneous, earth-shattering pleasure?"

Helen rolled her eyes. "Does your ego actually need _continuous_ stroking?"

"Well, it did endure over a hundred years of soul crushing rejection. I think my ego deserves a _lot _of stroking after that."

"We _are_ still talking about your ego, right?" Helen grinned, pulling him in for a quick kiss.

"Seriously, though," she continued, "I did put you through quite a bit. I am nothing short of amazed that you held out hope for so long without any encouragement."

"Well, it wasn't easy, but every once in awhile you would relax your guard and I would get a glimpse of what could be. It was like I was seeing a little bit of the future you shining through and…." He looked at her with understanding, and she smiled broadly at him. "That WAS the future you, wasn't it? It never quite made sense, but I was so happy to have you near me that I didn't want to question it. When you came to visit in New York, even though rumors placed you somewhere in Africa around that time. And the odd projects you would bring up that didn't seem to be connected to your work at the present…oh my God, Helen. You realize you could have destroyed the timeline? Actually kept us from getting together somehow? What were you thinking? You already knew I waited for you all those years…" Nikola undoubtedly could have continued railing for quite awhile, but Helen silenced him with her lips.

"Nikola. If you haven't noticed, I did quite a lot while I was on that holiday. But I did it carefully. I was confident enough in your love for me that I didn't think any of the contact we had would change things. And it didn't, except to make those years a little bit easier for you. And, to be honest, I was so lonely. You were my link to the future, darling. So please, calm down."

"I trust you, Helen. It's just that now I want to replay all of the memories I have with you and try to figure out what was past Helen and what was future Helen. You just handed me a giant puzzle I need to put together."

"I didn't tell you anything," Helen pointed out, "Mostly because I thought you would have figured it out by now."

"I want to hear about everything. You never talked about it, and I never pushed, but I want to hear about everything that happened when you went back. Promise you'll tell me," he begged.

"Nikola," Helen admonished, "I should think with all that genius you possess you should be able to figure most of it out on your own, especially as we 'relive our glory days' as you put it. But yes, when this is all over, I promise to fill in the gaps." Helen dragged herself out of Nikola's arms and looked around to assess the damage in the room. "It's a good thing I'm blowing this place up soon," she observed, pulling on her skirt that had somehow found its way to the other side of the room "We really did a number on it."

"I should get you angry more often…" Nikola thought out loud.

"Yes, well, think that hypothesis through carefully," Helen said dangerously as she finished dressing. "It might not always end as well for you." Nikola reached to pull on his shirt, then held it up in mock dismay.

"This is ending well?" He said, "This was a $300 shirt, and it has been quite literally ripped off of my body."

Helen sauntered up to him and gave him a heated kiss. "You're welcome," she whispered in his ear, before heading to the door. Nikola stood there, slightly dazed and shirtless, watching her leave.

"Just where do you think you're going?" He asked.

Helen looked over her shoulder and answered, "I have a house to pack. Care to join me?"

He rushed to catch up with her, leaving his ruined shirt behind, forgotten.

* * *

_Half an hour later…_

Henry had borrowed a book from Magnus on abnormal defense mechanisms as part of his research for the suit he built her. He wasn't sure exactly what the Doc was up to, but it was big. It was rare that she didn't let him in on what was going on; she had raised him and thought of him like a son, and generally trusted him as such. He pushed open the library door and looked around, confused. Over half the books were in boxes pushed to one corner of the room. Apparently Magnus's plans meant moving, and Henry didn't even want to try to puzzle that out right now. Instead, he focused on the general chaos of the rest of the room. A lamp had been knocked off an end table and lay shattered on the floor. And a few shelves were broken, their books strewn all over the floor. It looked like someone had gotten into a knock-down, drag-out fight. A piece of fabric caught his eye. He picked up and examined it, sniffed the air, then immediately threw it back on the floor like it was an animal that might bite him. It was the shirt Tesla had been wearing earlier when he had helped with the suit's energy source. And now it was laying on the library floor, ripped like someone had pulled it apart after it hadn't unbuttoned quickly enough.

Muttering, he scrambled out of the room as quickly as possible. One of them would be reviewing the tapes in the morning.


	5. Catacombs

**A/N: Things are going to get a teeny bit angsty before they get better. Packing is stressful and brings out the worst in people. Reviews are love! **

Exploring the catacombs beneath the Sanctuary was like visiting the storage areas of some of the world's top museums—all the best things are hidden from the public, in sealed wooden crates covered in dust and cobwebs. Everything from the last of the five autotypes to relics from some of the tombs of ancient Egypt were kept hidden in Helen's "basement."

"Helen, all of this has to come with us. It's all priceless history." Nikola protested the way Helen was ruthlessly leaving behind anything that wouldn't contribute to her work with abnormals. The only exceptions to this rule had been gifts from her father or other items of sentimental value, although those were few and far between since, otherwise, they wouldn't have been packed away in the catacombs.

"There's an old rule about packing—if you haven't used it since the last time you moved, you get rid of it." Helen teased. "But really, Nikola, we are starting over. Doing things the way they should have been done the first time. This needs to be a clean break; there is no sense in making this more difficult by bringing the past with us."

"I get what you're saying, but _funerary statues from King Tut's tomb!"_ he protested as he pried open another crate. This one had not been labeled, and Nikola wasn't prepared for what he found inside. He growled viciously, and Helen turned, startled to see him partially vamped out and staring at the contents of the crate like they were about to attack him.

"What in the world?" She asked him. "What's gotten into you?" He took a deep breath, calmed himself, and turned to Helen with a smile.

"So, did you really mean everything you said about clean breaks and fresh starts?" There was just a hint of venom in his voice.

"Yes, of course. Nikola, for God's sake, what is in that box?" He tossed it at her, and she looked inside with dismay.

The bottom of the box was lined with a dress that was once white but had long since yellowed with age. It was a simple, delicate lace. On top of it was a first edition of _Persuasion_, a long-dried rose, and, finally, a diamond ring. Helen closed her eyes tightly, like a small child who hopes that when she opens them again the monster will be gone.

"So I'm assuming this box stays?" Nikola asked lightly.

"Oh, darling…" she began. "I—I had forgotten this was even down here."

"You're Helen Magnus. You don't forget anything." He spat.

"Really? We're going to have this fight? Yes, I still have the wedding dress I never wore and my old engagement ring. Tell me, Nikola, how much dust was on that box? How long has it been since I came down here to visit it and reminisce about the happy days with my ex-fiance, the world renowned serial killer? Is that really what you think? After all we've been through, you _still_ think I'm stuck on John Druitt? And I thought you were a genius." Before he had a chance to respond, she stormed away.

"Well, that went well." He muttered, getting up to follow.

He looked in all the places Helen usually went when she was angry. She wasn't in the kitchen getting tea, or in her office buried in paperwork, or on the north tower. He finally found her in her (their?) bedroom. Nikola didn't keep many of his things in the room, though he had spent most nights there the last few months. She was sitting on the edge of the bed with her nightstand drawer open, looking at a piece of paper, but glanced up when she heard him come in. Nikola fully expected her eyes to be filled with the wrath of a thousand fiery suns, but instead she looked like she might have been crying. Hesitantly, Nikola sat down next to her on the bed. She didn't protest when he wrapped his arm around her shoulders protectively.

"You did tell me once that I was an insufferable ass," he said, his way of apologizing.

Helen smiled. "Only once?" She countered.

"Ouch." He grinned. "So, what is that?" He gestured to the small piece of paper she had folded up when he had come in.

Helen looked embarrassed, but handed the note over to Nikola. He glanced at it, then looked at her with a mixture of wonder and that insufferable arrogance of his. "Kiss me and I'll save your life," he quipped in the same tone as the first time he had used the line—right after writing her the note that Helen had just handed him. "I can't believe you kept this!" Helen gestured toward the open drawer. It held a sizable stack full of letters from Nikola to Helen, most from the time between when he left for New York and his 'death.' "You…you kept all of them."

"Every one. Any time I start to feel isolated, they bring me back home." He pulled her into his arms, content to just hold her and marvel at the fact that after two lifetimes of chasing, she was actually his. After a few minutes with her head buried in his shoulder, Helen looked up and softly kissed him.

"Soo…" Nikola began, like he was solving a complex puzzle. "You keep all the letters I've ever written you in your nightstand—which, by the way, opens the door to any number of comments about bedside drawers" he raised one eyebrow suggestively, then quickly continued when she shot him a Look "But your keepsakes from old Johnny were nailed away in a crate in the basement. I may perhaps have been a bit of a fool," he finished, reluctant to admit the truth.

"I believe 'insufferable ass' was the term you mentioned earlier?" Helen asked dryly. "And Nikola, I will give you one better than the location of your letters. Something I would think you would have picked up on by now, since it is rather obvious."

"Do tell?"

"Where will you be sleeping tonight?" Helen asked, pointedly.

"Well…I guess that depends on how angry you are," he admitted. Helen Magnus actually giggled at that.

"True. But in theory, if the past trend continues, you will be sleeping with me. Which is something that John Druitt has not been able to claim since Victoria was on the throne."

"I had actually noticed that difference, but I didn't quite draw all the appropriate conclusions."

"Well, since you seem to be so bloody dense, allow me to spell it out for you, darling," Helen said with just a hint of sarcastic sweetness. "I love you. I have for as long as I can remember; it just took me an unreasonable amount of time to act on it, and even longer to admit it out loud. Is that clear enough for you?"

Nikola would have answered, but he was too busy frantically crashing his lips against Helen's. All talking ceased at that point and was replaced with kissing and touching and moaning. All their clothes were flying for the second time that evening. Their struggle for dominance mirrored their earlier argument except that Nikola won this battle, hovering over his love as he kissed her, teased the mark on her neck, then moved further south to her always sensitive breasts. Despite his body's sense of urgency, he took his time in worshipping her body. Eventually she politely suggested that he might speed things up a bit, and he sank into her with a moan that was quickly silenced by more kisses, then breathless moans as they picked up a desperate rhythm. Helen came quickly and took Nikola with her. When they had come back down to earth, they fell back, breathless, onto their bed. She curled up against him to drift off to sleep, and he kissed her lightly before whispering, "I love you, too."


	6. Bedroom

**A/N: Thanks to everyone reading and reviewing! It means a ton!**

"Nikola, I really don't need your help packing my clothing," Helen protested as Nikola took the opportunity to dig through her walk-in closet. In the months since that fateful night in the library, they had grown into something that was the closest thing to a relationship that either of them could be expected to maintain. Even so, they at least kept the appearance of separate living quarters, if only so that Nikola would stay. Out. Of. Her. Closet.

"But Helen, I had no idea you still had this dress…" Nikola protested in amazement. Helen wasn't sure what he was talking about. That tone of reverence was usually reserved for the red dress that she was wearing the day they met, but that dress had been all but destroyed in a rather unfortunate lab accident.

"Nikola, what are you going on about?" She had been sitting in bed reading, not quite ready to face the events of the day, but crawled out from under the covers to join him in the closet. He held up a shimmering black party dress. It was short and loose, cut in the style that was popular in the 1920's and had recently started to come back into style. This dress, of course, was actually from the 1920's, and Helen had only worn it once.

"New Years Eve, 1927," he reminded her. Oh, she hadn't forgotten.

_Helen Magnus, the Helen Magnus of that time, anyway, was off on a safari in Africa. The Helen Magnus that had gone back in time in search of Adam Worth, however, was in New York City building business ties under an assumed name. Although she knew that she had written Nikola and told him of her planned trip, she decided to face the risk and go see him. It had been a damn lonely few decades, and as much as she hated to admit it, she missed the pesky vampire dreadfully. They were in the same city, and her willpower just wasn't that strong. _

_It was the holidays, and she remembered Nikola writing to her about a rather exclusive party he had attended that New Year's Eve. It had been no trouble at all to get Helen Magnus's name added to the guest list, although the risk of associating her real name with her presence in the city was not lost on her. She always did take senseless risks whenever it involved Nikola Tesla. _

_She ignored her usual business attire and instead slipped on a short, loose shimmering black party dress, adding dangerously high black heels and a pair of diamond earrings. She was dressed to kill._

_She slipped relatively unnoticed into The Players. It was already fairly late in the evening, and the partygoers were all engrossed in their own conversations or dance partners. Helen got a drink and went in search of Nikola. A thorough search turned up no sign of him, until she remembered why he loved this club and why he had told her about this particular party. _

_Nikola was not known for his overwhelming people skills, and reveling in a New Year's Eve party was simply not his style. Knowing him as well as she did, Helen imagined he had engaged in the socially mandated pleasantries for as short a time as possible before retreating to the club's famous wine cellar. There she found him, indulging in a glass of who-knows-how-old wine. Although he obviously heard her approach, he didn't turn to see who the intruder was._

"_Is this a private part, or may I join?" Helen asked, as a means of announcing her presence. _

_Nikola still didn't turn around. In fact, he didn't even react to the sound of her voice._

"_Nikola!" Helen exclaimed, a bit concerned. She walked towards him and placed her hand on his shoulder. He finally turned towards her slowly, looking at her as if he was seeing a ghost._

"_If this is madness, then let it come…" he mused aloud. _

_Helen smacked him. "You fool, it really is me!"_

_Either her words or the smack shook him back to reality. "Helen Magnus? What in God's name are you doing in New York? I thought you were headed to Africa on some sort of holiday." _

"_Yes, well, my plans changed. I was in the city meeting with potential patrons for the Sanctuary, and decided that I would look you up."_

"_On New Year's Eve. At the most exclusive party in the city. Hidden down in the wine cellar." He raised his eyebrow. It didn't have quite the suggestive tilt to it that he would later develop. It never occurred to her that her very presence this evening may have been what gave rise to his eventual intolerable innuendos. _

"_Yes, well. It has been quite awhile." Helen didn't have much of a plan thought out, and they stared at each other awkwardly for a moment. She realized she had drained her glass and refilled it from the bottle of she-wasn't-even-going-to-look-at-the-year Cabernet that Nikola had been plowing his way through. They caught up on each other's lives while working their way through another bottle or so of wine. It had been awhile since Helen had drank so much and it was, to her delight and dismay, going straight to her head. They heard the clock chime 11:30. _

"_Do you really intend to bring in the New Year in a wine cellar?" Helen asked. _

"_But what better location? I have everything I could hope for right at my disposal. The finest wines in the city and you." Helen looked down and tried unsuccessfully to fight back a grin. _

"_So I'm surprised James let you run off to America alone," Nikola said, fishing. Helen sighed to herself. James was starting to show interest, that much was certain. She was also fairly sure that he had mentioned his intentions to Nikola. In reality, however, it would be another ten years before they began their short stint as a couple. _

"_James does not dictate my every move, for all that he is a good friend," Helen defended. _

"_You've…changed." He observed, and she tried not to panic. She was trying to tone down her personality a bit, but she wasn't succeeding. "You're so much more confident. I like it." _

"_I'm so very glad you approve," she said, sarcastically. _

"_I like the hair, as well," he said, reaching out to run his fingers through one of the dark brown curls hanging loose around her face. His hand brushed her cheek and Helen shivered like a teenager. _Pathetic_, she thought. But then, she knew now what those hands were actually capable of and…she really needed to try to focus. She looked into his eyes and he was starting at her strangely. He had obviously noticed her reaction, and it was very much out of character for the Helen of that time. To that point they had shared a few brief, friendly kisses, but any serious attraction had only been one-sided._

_He leaned in a bit closer to her. "Are you sure you aren't a hallucination?" He asked. She giggled. She really had entirely too much wine and really didn't care a bit._

"_I'm quite sure," she said, leaning in to close a bit more of the gap between them. She set an arm on his shoulder._

"_But if you weren't real, would you really admit it?" Nikola speculated. Helen just shook her head. "No matter. Even if you are a hallucination, I'm grateful for that much. I've missed you, Helen," he admitted. Throwing all caution to the wind, Helen leaned in and kissed him gently._

"_I've missed you, too. You'll never have any idea how much," she said, instantly comfortable even with the younger version of her now-lover. _

_Nikola looked at her, his face covered with surprise, speechless, and finally settled for leaning forward to kiss her again. Helen quickly added heat to what started as a chaste kiss. Nikola's hands were on her knees, then he was tracing up the length of her thighs until he reached the hem of her dress, not that far from the tops of her legs. Helen began fumbling at his tie in an effort to even out the amount of skin they each had showing. _

_Eventually they had to come up for air, and Nikola pressed his forehead against hers, murmuring "I didn't tell you earlier, but I _really _like this dress." _

_Helen threw his tie aside and started on the shirt. "Aren't modern fashions wonderful?" She agreed. Nikola trailed kisses down her jaw and moved to her neck, inhaling her scent so he could remember it if he woke up and realized this was all a dream. His hands had slipped to the inside of Helen's thighs and her dress was so short that he could feel heat radiating from her._

_He would regret it for the next 80 years or so, but he spooked. He pulled back from her, giving himself some distance to clear his head. The last time he checked, even though he most definitely felt this way about her, he wasn't even on her radar. They had always only been friends, and the fact that she was practically throwing herself at him meant either that something had drastically changed (unlikely, given the letters he had been receiving from James) or that she had had too much to drink and wasn't thinking clearly. Deciding the latter was much more likely, he realized that he had to stop this. _

"_Helen," he began. She silenced him with another kiss, which he quickly pulled away from. "Helen! As much as I may have dreamt of this moment, I would rather you not do anything you would regret tomorrow." She grinned at him, and ran a hand up his leg. _

"_I know exactly what I'm doing in," she reassured him._

"_Well, if you do, then…I don't." he admitted, confused. To his surprise, she pulled him close in a tight hug, which he returned after a moment's shock. She held him like that for a few minutes._

"_I'm so sorry, Nikola," she whispered. "I've done nothing but hurt you, and I'm afraid I'm just going to do it again." _

"_James?" He asked, understanding her choice as much as he hated it._

_Helen wanted so badly to tell him everything. To have a companion in this long haul back to her time. She had bid James farewell, both of them knowing that the less contact they had with each other, the less likely they would be to mess up the timeline. Helen seriously considered it for a moment, and then decided to compromise._

"_Nikola, I need to tell you something. You aren't going to believe it, and you may not believe it for a very long time." He pulled out of her embrace to look at her, intrigued. "I choose you. You are my dearest friend, and I want you by my side until the world ends." His smile was radiant, then faded._

"_You said I wouldn't believe you…"_

"_I can't stay. I can't be with you right now, and I cannot give you a good explanation except to say that I'm not ready yet. But please, please wait for me," she begged, fighting back tears. _

"_I'll wait forever," he promised. He didn't ask her how she could be so certain everything would work out in the end. Mostly because he figured she wouldn't answer, but also because, even then, he considered Helen to be one of the rare few people who simply knew everything. _

_The clock chimed midnight and he pulled her in for one last kiss—long, and deep, and full of promise…_

"Helen…"

"Yes, darling?" She asked, sweetly.

"You were in Africa, weren't you?"

She grinned. "Of course I was. Do you think that the me of 1927 would have really hunted you down to make out with you in a wine cellar?"

"Why do you think I was so convinced you were a hallucination?"

"If I hadn't showed up that night, would you really have waited?" Helen asked, uncertainly.

Nikola looked at her with a mixture of shock and affection. "Of course I would have. Of course, now that I have you, I plan on keeping you for the rest of time."

Helen forgave him for snooping in her closet.


	7. The Box

**A/N: Yes, yes, it has been almost a month since I updated this. I've been a bit crazy. I will do better. Chartreuseian was kind enough to let me borrow a reference from her story How to Tame Your Genius, which you should go read after you finish reading this! **

"So what were you looking for, anyway?"

They were back in the Catacombs sorting through crates. Nikola looked up at her, confused.

"When you were rifling through my closet. What were you looking for?"

An abashed look flashed across his face and was quickly replaced with smooth innocence.

"I just wanted to see if there are any juicy pieces you've been holding back from me," he leered.

Helen sighed. "Yes. And you would never make up an inappropriate comment to deflect the truth."

He grinned. "But what if the truth IS the inappropriate comment?"

"Then you wouldn't have beat around the bush about it. Now stop deflecting. What were you looking for?"

He carefully studied the crate he was sorting and muttered, "My things."

"What…things…of yours do you think I have?"

He gathered his nerve and stared her down. "I know you have them. All the things you've confiscated from me over the years—plans and gadgets and such."

"Tell me you weren't trying to steal them back again?" Helen asked with a laugh. "I'm sure you remember how badly that went for you."

"Yes, it was a trying experience, but it did end _very _well." He cocked his eyebrow with a grin.

"Cheeky bastard," she smiled, shaking her head.

"And anyway, I wasn't going to steal them, as such. I just wanted to make sure they got moved to the new Sanctuary. Even if you won't let me follow through on my plans, they are a testament to my genius and part of my life's work and I think they deserve better than to be blown up in one of you crazy-" Helen clamped her hand over his mouth by way of interruption.

"That's quite enough lecture, thank you." He yanked her hand away, but she quickly pressed the index finger of her free hand to his lips in a shushing motion. "Let me talk. It's my turn now." He nodded and she pulled her finger away.

"I have every intention of moving your "things" to the new Sanctuary. That being said, I find it incredibly amusing that you thought they would be hiding in my closet."

"Well, you never wanted me going through it…"

"It was nothing so complicated as stolen plans—I didn't want you to dig through my underthings, Nikola!"

"Oh. So, where are the plans?"

Helen rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. When she looked back, Nikola was still standing there, staring. "Well, are you coming or not?" He hurried after her.

She led him to the library.

"Hey, who moved all the boxes?" Nikola looked around, amazed. Aside from the mostly empty shelves, there was no sign that they had been packing. Helen grinned.

"I think I will keep some secrets to myself a little longer." She walked over to a shelf that had some old hardcover romance novels on it. Helen knew that they were so beneath Nikola that he never would have gone near them. She pulled all the books off the shelf at once, revealing that they were merely the spines of the books glued together to give the appearance of a shelf of books. Behind the false cover was a box. Nikola stilled, afraid to make any sudden movements as Helen pulled the box down from the shelf and set it on one of the tables.

"It doesn't just have your old plans in it," Helen admitted as she opened the box. It contained a few sets of rolled up blueprints, the devamper, an ancient set of diaries, and a pile of what appeared to be travel souvenirs.

Nikola smirked. "First the drawer of letters and now this. Helen, if I didn't know any better, I would think you have been in love with me for quite some time." She smacked him for that. "But where did all of this come from?"

This time Helen looked embarrassed. "Its souvenirs…from any time we travelled or went on a mission together."

"You've been keeping a 'boyfriend box' for me for quite awhile," he observed. "And it has so much more in it then that…other box," he added, distastefully.

"Now you see why your jealousy was so amusing…" Nikola was rifling through the box, far more interested in all the memorabilia then his plans. Helen knew that he didn't really need the plans, anyway. All of his inventions were stored away in his brain; the drawings were purely nostalgic. It was a sign of how much they had both changed that he was more interested in revisiting the memories of all their trips.

"Some of this stuff belongs in a museum somewhere." Nikola held up a small stone carving. "Wasn't this from Tut's tomb?"

"Yes. Those were wonderful days, weren't they?" Helen's eyes brightened at the memories of the group of explorers digging their way through Egypt.

Nikola held up a pair of opera glasses quizzically.

"I can't believe you don't remember!" Helen accused. "You wanted to see what opera was like, and we went to-"

"The London premiere of Pirates of Penzance-" Nikola finished. "That was in…1880, right?" Helen nodded. "God, I hated that so much."

Helen giggled. "I know. That was what made it so much fun!"

Nikola snorted, pulling a little wooden sign out of the box. It was pure Americana—the stuff of small town craft fairs and childhood art projects. "Speaking of experiences that one of us hated."

"Oh, good Lord. Now you know why I hid the box." Helen Magnus did not blush, but if anything could get her to, this might.

The sign was shaped like a U.S. Route marker shield and had an 84 carved into it. Painted on the sign in large letters were the words "_I found the fastest way to reach Climax…"_ Added at the bottom of the sign like an afterthought were the letters "_GA."_

"You made up reports of that abnormal sighting just so you could drag me to that damn town," Helen accused.

"Well, yes…but you have to admit the people there were pretty abnormal."

"They're small town Southerners, Nikola. I'm sure they thought you were pretty abnormal, as well."

"But they were in the middle of a Swine Time Festival. They have a festival celebrating _pigs_. Those creatures are so filthy. Do you have any idea what they eat?" he said, voice laced with horror.

"Says the vampire…"

"Still. The entire thing was so barbaric. And all the food had been outside for hours collecting bacteria, and all those people crushed together…" he shuddered. "Still, it _was_ worth it, just to see the look on your face."

* * *

"_Nikola, we are lost."_

"_Are not."_

"_We are so. I never should have let you drive."_

"_If you are about to tell me to pull over and ask for directions, you can forget it!" He grinned at Helen as they drove through the Georgia countryside. _

"_Are you sure you took the exit for Chattahoochee?" _

"_What-a-hoochee? Where do people come up with these names? The exit was labeled Lake Seminole, and since that's where the reports of the crazy freshwater shark that likes to munch on humans are coming from, that's the direction I'm driving."_

"_Chattahoochee," Helen repeated, ignoring the rest of his speech. "It's a Muskogean word that means Painted Rocks. And you really are the pot calling the kettle black, since you hail from the town of Smiljan."_

"_Touche," he admitted. They continued to drive down windy country roads for another fifteen or twenty minutes._

"_Nikola,"_

"_Yes?"_

"_We just drove past a sign with a picture of a large peach that said Georgia Welcomes You."_

"_And?"_

"_We aren't going to Georgia. Lake Seminole is in Florida."_

"_Technically it is split between Georgia and Florida."_

"_Were you planning on taking the longest route possible to get there in order to maximize our time in the car? It's Thanksgiving weekend, I have other things I could be doing."_

"_Like what? Working? Hunting abnormal? That's what you're doing, Helen."_

"_Fine. But would you please either get a map or get us back on track?"_

_They were driving into a small town, but there was an unreasonable amount of traffic. Eventually they could see that there was some kind of festival or street fair going on._

"_Maybe someone in this crowd could give us directions," Helen suggested cheerfully. Nikola scowled, then his face brightened._

"_Helen! Speaking of towns with crazy names, look at the sign!"_

"_Climax, Georgia. Population 297." Helen paused. "You orchestrated this!" she accused._

"_What makes you think I would drag you halfway across the country and deliberately get us lost all in an attempt to get you to stay the night at a cozy B&B in the quaint town of Climax?" He smirked at her._

_Helen dropped her head into her hands. "Because you bloody well just admitted to it. And, the answer is no."_

"_I'm kidding, Helen. I don't think this town is even big enough to have a B&B. Care to settle for a photo-op in front of the sign? Ouch! Must you hit so hard?" _

"_Yes!"_

* * *

"I bet you wish now we had taken the photo in front of the sign."

"I think I'll live. I've heard rumors that the town is still there, should I ever change my mind."

"When did you even buy that silly sign?"

"Probably while you were off trying to track down a B&B," Helen smirked.

"It was so disappointing. A town like that just _needs _one. So, how did the sign make the cut for your box of souvenirs?"

"Well…because I knew what you were really up to, and it was sweet."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do. It was my first holiday without Ashley. You knew how difficult it would be, so you found the most ridiculous way possible to distract me."

"You'll never get me to admit it," he said, stubbornly. "I was just being my usual inappropriate, inconsiderate self."

"Yes, Nikola, keep telling yourself that…"


	8. The Kitchen

**A/N: I blame this on…well, you know who you are. It's all your fault. Yours, and that bottle of Cabernet. ;) **

**You should have figured this out by Chapter 8, but just in case: Beware the rating, my dears! **

Helen and Nikola were in the library, frozen in time, looking through the box containing memories of so many of the adventures they had gone on together. It was soon obvious that they could spend days reminiscing. Days that they didn't have.

"Where are the rest of the children, anyway? And the hairy one?" Nikola eventually asked, reluctant to end this moment, but aware that they were on a timeline.

Helen rolled her eyes. "Will has been commandeered by Addison. Abby is with him. Biggie decided to join the Abnormal Homeland in the Fifth Ward."

"So it's just us?" He asked suggestively, raking his eyes over Helen from top to bottom.

"And Henry…" Helen reminded him.

"Heinrich doesn't count. He'll stay holed up in his lab from now until doomsday. You deserve a break."

"What do you think we've been doing for the last hour and a half?" She smiled to herself. Nikola only knew part of her plan, really. She was sure he couldn't imagine the new Sanctuary that she had waiting for them. If all went well, they would have so much more time to spend like this. He didn't know that, however. She thought back to after his "death" and the decades of silence that it brought their relationship. With that in mind, she could hardly blame him for wanting to monopolize as much of her time as possible.

"You should at least stop to eat something," he insisted.

Helen crinkled her nose, rejecting the idea of wasting precious time to do something as trivial as eat. As she did, her stomach growled and Nikola smirked. "Food, Helen."

"I'm not sure what is left in the kitchen. I've been deliberately not restocking, but we can go see what's left."

After rummaging through the cabinets and examining the refrigerator, Nikola proclaimed his assessment of the situation. "I believe there was a children's limerick about this situation. Mother Hubbard and all that."

"Did you find _anything_?" Helen asked. "Besides wine, that is."

"Apparently you've let those stores deplete, as well."

"Or already moved them…" she hinted, grinning.

He held up the spoils from his expedition.

"I don't suppose you found any ice cream to go with that?" Helen smirked. Nikola held a bottle of chocolate syrup in one hand and a can of whipped cream in the other.

"Sadly not," he grinned, suggestively. "I don't know what you are going to put them on."

"I could always just eat the whipped cream straight from the can," she teased, grabbing it from his hand and squirting some into her mouth. Nikola gulped.

"Usually small children do things like that," he observed, pulling her close to him, "but you make it look so much dirtier." He kissed her before she could swallow the whipped cream and as their tongues battled they shared the sweet, sticky topping. Nikola's hands worked their way up Helen's neck and through her mass of brown curls, while Helen ventured lower, fumbling with Nikola's belt. They were both gasping for air when they finally broke apart.

"Still hungry?" He asked, smirking. She answered with another deep kiss, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and pulling her body flush against his, rubbing against his prominently bulging pants.

"You have no idea how hungry I am," she breathed into his ear when they came up for air again.

"Are we still talking about dinner?" he chuckled, running his hands down her sides, then pushing them up under the hem of her blouse. He reached around her bra and started gently working her nipples between his fingers. Helen crashed her lips against his and frantically ground into him, trying to create as much contact as possible.

"Desert," she finally gasped. He smiled broadly.

"Me first," he insisted, running his hands up the outside of her thighs, pushing her skirt up as he went, until it rode above her hips. He made fast work of the flimsy piece of lace that masqueraded as panties before he lifted her up and deposited her on the kitchen table. Helen knew she should protest the location or _something_ but she was too keyed up to do anything besides wantonly open her legs as Nikola knelt down in front of her. He kissed his way from her ankles up the inside of her thigh until he was so close he could feel the moist heat radiating from her. Resisting the urge to taste her just yet, he instead reached for the whipped cream she had been teasing him with earlier. She batted his hand away.

"Later," she moaned. They never did well with slow and teasing. They had such high aspirations and then they usually dissolved away in the face of desperate need. Ignoring the whipped cream, he started at her other ankle and repeated his earlier process, kissing and licking and sucking his way up her leg.

"Nikola!" Helen gasped impatiently.

He smiled into her leg and continued his ministrations. At the inner top of her thigh, he bit down with his human teeth. Helen moaned, arching her back as she dug her fingers into his hair. "Stop playing around," she managed to moan as he started licking the area he had just bit. "If you're going to bite me, do it properly…" she urged.

Nikola moaned. Helen was going to be the death of him; he could never tell her no. Not that he wanted to. Not that he was using higher level thinking at this point. He bit down on the same spot and let his fangs grow into her leg. He felt her muscles start to tense around him as the first few drops of blood fell on his tongue. He reached a hand up between her legs and started massaging her clit as he tasted her.

In a matter of moments Helen was spasming beneath him, moaning and crying his name as she rode out the pleasure. As Nikola felt her come down, he kissed the wound he had left, willing it to heal quicker, then moved to her still-sensitive center, gently licking her clean as she let out the occasional whimper from the after-shocks. He stood up and Helen drowsily pulled him close, kissing the base of his neck, working her way up to that spot behind his earlobe that always drove him crazy.

"It's my turn for desert," she whispered, delighting in the little shiver she felt him try to hide.

Helen kissed him, long and deep, tasted herself—and her blood—on his tongue. She pushed off the table and turned them so that Nikola was the one pushed up against its edge. She started unbuttoning his shirt, kissing as she went, but quickly grew frustrated and pulled it apart, sacrificing a few buttons for what she deemed a most worthy cause. She briefly admired his toned chest before moving down to the belt she had been fumbling at earlier. Making quick work of it this time, she unfastened his pants and shoved them down to his ankles, leaving him in an unbuttoned shirt and boxers that were doing little to hide his swollen erection. She grabbed him through the shorts, working him with her hands until he groaned, "And you call me a tease." Helen pushed his boxers down and kissed his tip, running her tongue around it in circles. He gasped as she took him in whole and ran his fingers through her hair as she licked his length.

Nikola let her continue like that for a few minutes, then forced himself to pull her away from him and drag her back up to his level. He kissed her firmly, then whispered, "I don't think that's how either of us want this to end." Helen laughed breathily in his ear as he spun them around and she found herself once again deposited on the table. Their bodies were flush against each other, and Helen wrapped her legs around his waist as the frantically ground together.

"Enough teasing," Helen breathed, reaching down to grab his length. His hands caught hers before they reached the goal, however, and he easily used one of his hands to hold both her wrists over her head.

"Patience, dear," he admonished, smirking. She scowled.

"I swear to God, Nikola, if you don't stop playing around and f—oohh" Her complaint was cut off by sensation of him burying himself deep inside her. He released her wrists and they just clung to each other for a moment before he started to move inside her. Helen quickly caught up to his pace and they gave the table a run for its money as they slammed into each other. "Henry is going to come running to see who is destroying the house," Helen murmured as the table shook.

"We couldn't have that," he agreed, picking her up off the table without breaking any contact. She laughed as he turned them around and rested Helen's back against the wall. "I don't think we'll actually break the walls…" he muttered, resuming their pace.

In a few minutes they were sweat-soaked, panting, and both ready to slip over the edge. "Nikola!" Helen gasped. "Oh, oh my God, I…" she lost all coherence when he reached down between them, and as he swiped at her clit she came for the second time, throwing her head back against the wall in pleasure and shuddering around him as he, too, came undone. She wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled him as they came down from their high.

"So much for dinner," she giggled.

"Do you still have takeout menus floating around somewhere? I could always feed you Chinese food in bed…"


	9. Nikola's Room

**A/N: For my lovely Tweeps who gently nudged (nagged, threatened) me to finally finish this chapter, then beta'd it because I cannot edit ONE MORE PAGE. And to LoveActuallyFan, who I don't think is around anymore, but whose story Shattering the Glass worked its way into my head canon and the previous chapter. Oops. Go read it. After this. Oh, and fair warning: if you're into things like plot, there really isn't on here. It's just gratuitous fangirling :D Review and I may supply you with more! **

As Helen slowly made her way out of a deep, peaceful sleep, she observed that something felt…off. Not wrong necessarily, but different. Like the feeling you get when you wake up at the wrong time of day, or in someplace other than your own bed. Actually, it felt very much like both. Before she opened her eyes, she realized that the sheets she was between were nice, but crisp and functional—more like guest bedroom sheets than the soft, silky ones on her own bed. She reached out to grab her pillow and it moved, wrapping itself around her and nuzzling into her neck.

"Niko…" she murmured, realizing the identity of her pillow. Still too asleep to think practically, she cuddled up against him, drifting in and out of sleep and enjoying the feeling of being held protectively against his chest. Eventually, she forced her eyes open and caught him contentedly watching her sleep. "Hey," she said, her still soft and sleepy.

"Hey," he grinned, pulling her close for the softest of kisses.

"Why am I in your bed?" She asked, not quite yet filtering her words. She realized what she had said, and hastily added, "I mean, why are we in your bed and not mine?"

"You don't remember?" he laughed. Then she remembered. They managed to eat the Chinese food in the kitchen, but then the night had deteriorated into flirting and innuendos and then finally they went scrambling for a room—any room—while they still had clothes on.

"Your room was closer," she concluded. With a smirk, he kissed her shoulder blade, slowly moving his way up until he could tease the back of her earlobe with his tongue. Helen was wide awake now, tiny moans escaping in response to Nikola's precision attack. Reluctantly, she finally shoved him aside and moved to get out of bed. He pouted. "How long were we asleep?" she asked, concerned. There was a timetable to her plan, and although she was perfectly willing to spend every waking moment in Nikola's arms, it just wasn't possible.

"Only an hour or so," he reassured her, knowing where she was coming from. Then he smirked. "You were so tired," he cooed, "they must really be riding you at work." Helen rolled her eyes.

"I have a conference call with the other heads of houses in an hour," she explained, crawling out of bed against her will and reaching for her dressing gown which was not there. "Damnit," she muttered, taking in what was left of her dress on the floor in what amounted to shreds. "We do have a tendency to get carried away," she observed, biding time while she tried to figure out what to do.

"Problem, Helen?" Nikola asked, knowingly.

"It would appear that I am stuck in your bedroom with no clothes," she explained, grinning.

"I'm failing to see how this is a problem…" He wrapped his arms around her waist, trying blatantly to distract her.

"Shower…meeting…" she murmured.

"Well, I may have a solution to part of your problem," he suggested. Leaning in close to her ear, his breath making her shiver, he whispered, "shower with me."

"As tempting as that is, Nikola, I have to be at this meeting in an hour, and a shower with you will NOT get me there on time…"

"There's a first time for everything," he suggested, tracing the fingers of one hand lightly down her back while the other hand reached up to gently massage one of her breasts. Helen moaned and pressed into him, forgetting why she thought showering together was a bad idea…

* * *

"I have to get ready Nikola," Helen protested, moving to step out of the shower. They had just…she hated to say wasted…reallocated sounded better. They had just _reallocated_ a good 45 minutes that should have been spent preparing for her meeting. Helen's mind and body stood in opposition to each other; intellectually she knew she had a job to do, but her body was still quivering, protesting the idea of prying herself out of Nikola's arms.

"Mmm…but you're so wet…" he muttered, wrapping his arms around her waist, pulling her flush up against him.

Helen fought back a shiver, instead rolling her eyes. "Yes, Nikola. That often happens in the shower. Now let go, I need to get dressed."

"But I haven't washed my hair yet," he whined.

Helen smirked, opening the shower door and a wave of steam followed her as she stepped out and grabbed a towel from one of the cabinets. "If you're upset that I finished first, you can only blame yourself, Nikola." He was thrown off balance for a moment, not used to her giving quite as good as she got, and Helen took the opportunity to close the shower door in his face and stride back into the bedroom.

She closed the bathroom door, muffling the sound of Nikola's protest. Out of habit, she walked over to the closet and opened the doors, staring without seeing, lost in her thoughts. Soon enough, things would settle down and they would have an eternity together. Unfortunately, things were going to get worse before they got better. Ignoring that train of thought, Helen really looked for the first time at the closet, remembering that she was not in her own room. She sighed. It looked like she could either dart back to her room in a towel or find something in Nikola's closet that she could throw on for a few minutes. If there was really anything in here besides suits, which she doubted.

On closer examination of the walk-in, she found exactly what she expected—a row of suits, hung neatly and organized by color. A small row of dress shoes were lined up across the floor, and the left side of the closet was filled with a row of shirts and rather generous tie selection. A dresser sat pushed up against the wall of the right side. Maybe she could at least find a t-shirt long enough to cover everything that was important. Worst case scenario, she could always risk his wrath (and being seen by one of her staff) and throw on one of his dress shirts.

The top drawer was nothing Helen hadn't seen before—neatly folded stacks of boxers and a pile of socks. While definitely interesting, they were not remotely helpful to her predicament. She pulled the next drawer open and found what she was looking for—undershirts. She slipped one on, grateful that he was just enough taller than her that the shirt—barely—covered all the essentials.

Helen knew she should run back to her room to change before Nikola got out of the shower. Otherwise, she would likely end up missing the meeting. The bottom drawer caught her eye, though, and Helen couldn't help but let curiosity get the better of her.

"Bloody hell!" she said out loud in surprise.

"What's wrong?" Nikola asked, stepping out of the bathroom. Helen didn't even need to turn around to know that he was standing there completely bare. Her mind started to haze over, her body and its ideas gaining the upper hand. "What are you doing in my closet, Helen?" He didn't sound upset, just…amused. Gathering herself, Helen grabbed what she had found in the drawer and, hiding it behind her back, stepped out to confront Nikola.

His breath caught when he saw Helen, wet hair tangled around her face, wearing only one of his white t-shirts. "God, you're beautiful," he whispered, and Helen couldn't help but smile, almost forgetting her new mission. Almost.

"Nikola," she began sweetly.

"Yes…" He knew that tone in her voice, and it meant trouble. "Wait. What's behind your back?" He finally noticed that she was hiding something from him.

"Well, I was looking for something to wear, and I stumbled across something I've never seen you in." Nikola groaned, realizing where this was going.

"No." He said firmly. "Anything but that."

"But Nikola," she begged. "I bet you look stunning in them." He crinkled his nose, and Helen giggled.

"Give them here," he grumbled, reaching behind her to snatch the offending garment out of her hands. He held up a pair of faded, boot-cut jeans. "I look ridiculous in these." He assured her. "I really should just get rid of them. Let them blow up with this place."

"Absolutely not. And Nikola, when did you get jeans, anyway?"

He looked sheepish. "Well, it was while I was at SCIU. I was running low on clothing—"

"Because you had slowly destroyed your entire wardrobe in a series of laboratory experiments?" Helen supplied helpfully. Nikola scowled.

"Anyway. I didn't want to take time to go shopping, so I just had my assistant order an entire line from a collection at Bloomingdales. These came with it, and I wasn't paying much attention when I packed and threw them in. Now, don't you have a meeting to get to?"

"What meeting?" Helen asked, her voice dropping to the low, seductive tone she knew Nikola couldn't resist. "I could forget all about the meeting if you tried those on for me…"

"You'll laugh." He insisted.

"I assure you I won't. And look at it like this, even if you were to look silly in them—which you won't—it isn't as if you will have them on for long," she promised.

Nikola gulped. "Fine," he muttered. "Turn around." Helen fought back laughter at his sudden self-consciousness, instead doing as he asked. She would never admit just how excited she was—her stomach was fluttering like a love-struck teenager. In her defense, she had known Nikola the majority of her long life and she could count on both hands the times he had worn something other than a suit.

"Okay, you can turn around. I look ridiculous, just so you know." Helen spun around and her jaw involuntarily dropped as she took him in from head to toe. His still-damp hair fell lazily across his forehead, and he hadn't shaved yet, so the faintest stubble covered his face. Her eyes grazed further, admiring his well-toned, bare chest. The jeans sat low on his waist and fit perfectly, clinging to all the right places.

Nikola saw her jaw drop and watched her stare, in his own self-consciousness completely misinterpreting her reaction. "I told you they were ridiculous," he admitted. "Now you see why I—"

His rambling was cut off when Helen launched herself at his mouth. Before Nikola completely caught up with what was happening, her hands were tangled in his hair and her lips crushed against his. He returned the kiss, deepening it and pulling her close. When they came up for air, Helen whispered, "You need to wear them more often…"

"I don't understand," he mused, as Helen pulled out of his arms. He was about to protest when she knelt down in front of him, undoing the button on the front of the jeans. "Helen…" he said, cautiously.

"I told you that you wouldn't have them on long either way," she said with a smirk. He was already straining the front of the jeans. She stroked him through the rough fabric and he moaned delightfully. He tangled his hands in her hair gently and when she looked up at him his eyes were wide with desire.

She mercifully unzipped the jeans, freeing his length as she shoved the jeans down his legs. As he kicked them aside, she teased him for a minute, stroking him with her hands as she kissed her way down his torso. Right when he thought he was going to burst into flames, her lips met her hands. She kissed his tip lightly, drawing a faint circle with her tongue. He gasped sharply, and Helen chuckled, the vibration driving him even closer to the edge. She pulled him into her mouth, dragging her tongue from base to tip as she slowly released him, then swallowing him again. She continued to work him like that until he was sure he couldn't last another minute. As much as he was thoroughly enjoying her ministrations, he wanted to come with her quaking around him. He set his hands on her shoulder and pulled her away from him, and she mewed in protest. He knelt down across from her and grabbed the hem of her t-shirt, tugging it over her head and outstretched arms. Tossing the shirt aside, he pulled her to her feet and held her flush against his body. She felt him pressed against her leg and moved to the side so that she could create friction in a more sensitive area. They kissed hungrily as their limbs tangled. Without breaking contact, he guided them to his bed, stopping when the back of Helen's knees hit the mattress.

"I love you," he whispered as he lowered them onto the bed. Nikola buried his face in her neck, kissing his way up to her earlobe then down her neck and to her chest. Helen moaned as he pulled a nipple into his mouth, rolling his tongue and working it until she was so very close he could feel her body start to tense. He reluctantly pulled himself away from her chest and kissed her gently on the mouth, letting her body calm down—against her protests—before he repeated the treatment on the other side. Helen, growing impatient, ran her hands through his hair.

"Nikola," she said warningly. He looked up with a fake questioning look.

She tried to catch her breath. As much as she wanted to say something flippant, it just wouldn't come out. "Want you…now…" she insisted. He kissed her firmly as he positioned himself. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and he sank inside her, pausing a moment just to enjoy the sensation of her surrounding him. Helen's hips thrust against him and he matched her move for move until they were sweat-soaked and on the edge. "I love you, too," Helen whispered as he dove into her one more time, hard, and she flew apart, quaking as she came around him. Nikola tried to draw the moment out, thrusting erratically, but moments later he moaned as he came, spilling himself inside her.

As they both lay on his bed, caught in a deliciously sleepy haze, he suddenly remembered why Helen had been so eager to escape earlier. "Your meeting," he reminded her.

She reached for her phone on his night table and groaned, seeing the time. "Meeting was an hour ago," she said matter-of-factly.

"You don't seem upset," he said, surprised.

Helen rolled on top of Nikola, cuddling up into his chest. "They aren't going to start without me…." She said, content to enjoy a few more minutes in his arms.


End file.
